Other bands with vastly different lineup

Axl Rose has received a lot of criticism for soldiering own alone as the last remaining member from the band's heydays. Critics say that the name 'Guns N' Roses' is intimately linked to certain band members and that the current lineup shouldn't record and tour under this name. The reposte is of course that the music of Guns N' Roses is not linked to specific band members but that other persons, of the right mind-set, may carry the torch forward. The music of Guns N' Roses is not linked to specific musicians but anyone that understands the spirit of the music may be able to continue the legacy. In other words it's a matter of continuing the mission, legacy, strategy of the "founding fathers" even when most of them have gone. At least this is what I believe Axl Rose is thinking.

This is not new and some bands have taken it a lot further. Fleetwood Mac is a good example, they started out as a blues band in the 60's ("Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac") but changed their lineup considerably and now make rock for a more mature audience. Only two members remain from the original lineup. In this case not only has the band composition been greatly changed, but the music itself has changed radically.

Some would say this is the case for Guns N' Roses, too, after all Appetite for Destruction is very different from Chinese Democracy. I would counter that Guns N' Roses already in its heyday was on a path of continues renewal. Use Your Illusion is very different from Appetite for Destruction, too, even if most of the band members remained, but the essence of the music of Guns N' Roses was mostly intact, and still is today. For me Guns N' Roses music is not a stagnant bluesy rock n' roll, and it never seem to have been or intended, Guns N' Roses is about pushing borders to create fresh, frontline music with certain elements. After all, the main thing about Appetite for Destruction when it was released was not that the record was so good (and that's why we still enjoy it) but because it was very different from what was around at that time - it made the music scene progress (just like with Nirvana a few years later).

Here are a few other bands that continue with vastly different lineups:
Smashing Pumpkins (only Billy Corgan left), Hole (only Courtney Love left), Foreigner, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Thin Lizzy, Napalm Death, Sweet, Revolting Cocks and Badfinger.

It bloody annoys me when people use double standards and refer to new band members in GN'R as "hired hands". Yes, Axl is the boss, yes, the line-up has changed a lot in recent years, BUT they contribute both to writing and recording and every one of them seem to stress how they function as a band, as a family. They are band members.